Cherusci

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Cherusci

The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine

Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
valley and the plains and forests of northwestern Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, in the area between present-day Osnabrück

Osnabrück

Osnabr?ck is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of M?nster, and some 100 km due west of Hannover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehengebirge and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest....
and Hanover

Hanover

Hanover or Hannover#Definitions , on the river Leine, is the capital city of the Federal states of Germany of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the House of Hanover, in their dignities as the dukes of Brunswick-L?neburg ....
), during the 1st century BC and 1st century. Subsequently they were absorbed into the tribal confederation of the Saxons

Saxons

The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic peoples. Their modern-day descendants in Saxony are considered ethnic Germans; those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch people; those in north eastern Belgium are considered to be ethnic Flemish people; and those in southern England ethnic English people ....
. The name refers to a sword (*xeru-) and *skaz, from Indo-European -skos (Latin -scus). The Proto-Germanic word would probably have been *Xeruskoz.

Rome encounters the Cherusci
The first historical mention of the Cherusci occurs in Book 6.10 of Julius Caesar's

Gaius Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar most commonly refers to:* Gaius Julius Caesar , conqueror of Gaul, dictatorGaius Julius Caesar may also refer to:* Gaius Julius Caesar , a fictionalized version of the above in the HBO/BBC2 series Rome, played by Ciar?n Hinds...
De Bello Gallico, which recounts events of 53 BC.

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The Cherusci were a Germanic tribe that inhabited parts of the northern Rhine

Rhine

Germany

Osnabrück

Hanover

Saxons

Rome encounters the Cherusci

The first historical mention of the Cherusci occurs in Book 6.10 of Julius Caesar's

Gaius Julius Caesar

Suebi

The Suebi or Suevi were a group of Germanic peoples who were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with Ariovistus' campaign, c....
for sending reinforcements to the Treveri

Treveri

The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle River, within the southern fringes of the Arduenna Silva , a part of the vast Silva Carbonaria, in what are now Luxembourg, southeastern Belgium and western Germany....
. He mentions that the Bacenis forest separated the territory of the Cherusci from that of the Suebi. In 12 BC, the Cherusci and other Germanic tribes were subjugated by the Romans.

As Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
tried to expand in northern Europe beyond the Rhine, it exploited divisions within the Cherusci, and for some time the tribe was considered a Roman ally. At this time the tribe was split between Arminius

Arminius

Arminius, also known as Armin or Hermann was a chieftain of the Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest....
(known in modern German as "Hermann der Cherusker", although his actual Germanic name was more likely Armin) and Segestes

Segestes

Segestes was a noble of the Germanic tribe of the Cherusci involved in the events surrounding the Roman attempts to conquer northern Germany during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus....
. Arminius advocated breaking allegiance to Rome and declaring independence, while Segestes wanted to remain loyal. By about 8 AD, Arminius had gained the upper hand and began planning rebellion. Segestes repeatedly warned Publius Quinctilius Varus

Publius Quinctilius Varus

Publius Quinctilius Varus was a Ancient Rome politician and general under emperor Augustus, mainly remembered for having lost three Roman legions and his own life when attacked by Germanic tribes leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest....
, the governor of Gaul, that rebellion was being planned, but Varus declined to act until the rebellion had broken out.

In 9, in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in 9 A.D. when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius, the son of Segimer of the Cherusci, ambushed and destroyed three Roman Empire Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus....
, an army of allied Germanic tribes under the command of Arminius (the Cherusci, Bructeri

Bructeri

The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe located in northwestern Germany , between the Lippe River and Ems rivers south of the Teutoburg Forest, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia around 100 BC through 350....
, Marsi

Marsi (Germanic)

The Marsi were a small Germanic tribe settled between the Rhine, Rur and Lippe River rivers in northwest Germany. Tacitus mentions them repeatedly, in particular in the context of the wars of Germanicus....
, Sicambri

Sicambri

The Sicambri were a Germanic people living in what is now called the Netherlands at the turn of the first millennium.Originating in the Germanic peoples-Celts contact zone , they had become Franks by the 4th century, associated with the Low Franconian Salian Franks....
, Chauci

Chauci

The Chauci were a populous Germanic tribes that inhabited the extreme northwestern shore of Germany between Frisia in the west and the Elbe estuary in the east....
and Chatti

Chatti

The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribes whose homeland was near the Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser river and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Werra river regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Kassel, though probably so...
) annihilated three Roman legions commanded by Varus. The legions' eagle standards, of great symbolic importance to the Romans, were lost. The numbers of these three legions, Legio XVII

Legio XVII

Legio decima septima was a Roman legion levied by Augustus around 41 BC. The legion was destroyed in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest . The legion's symbol and cognomen are unknown....
, Legio XVIII

Legio XVIII

Legio duodevigesima was a Roman legion levied by the future Augustus around 41 BC. The legion was, along with two others, destroyed in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest ....
, and Legio XIX

Legio XIX

Legio undevigesima was a Roman legion levied in 41 BC or 40 BC by Augustus. It was destroyed in 9 in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The emblem of the XIXth legion is unknown, but probably was the Capricorn as other legions levied by Augustus....
, were never used again.

After the mutinies of the German legions in 14, Germanicus

Germanicus

Germanicus Julius Caesar Claudianus . Born in Lugdunum, Gaul , was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire. At birth he was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle and received the agnomen Germanicus, by which he is principally known, in 9 BC, when...
decided, at the urging of his men, to march into Germany to restore their lost honor. In 15, after a quick raid on the Chatti, he began a campaign against the Cherusci. He received an appeal to rescue Segestes, who was besieged by Arminius. Segestes was rescued along with a group of relatives and dependents, including Thusnelda

Thusnelda

Thusnelda was the daughter of the Cherusci prince Segestes. Her father had intended her for someone else, but Arminius, who subsequently led a coalition of Germanic tribes to victory over Publius Quinctilius Varus and his legions in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 A.D., eloped with her and married her instead....
, Segestes' daughter and the wife of Arminius. Germanicus spared them and gave them land in Gaul. He then found the site of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. His men buried the dead and built a funeral mound.

A series of battles followed. Inflicting heavy casualties on the Romans, Arminius seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Then, in 16, Germanicus defeated Arminius at Idistaviso

Idistaviso

Idistaviso is the location on the Weser river where forces commanded Arminius fought those commanded by Germanicus at the Battle of the Weser River in 16 CE, attested in chapter 16 of Tacitus' Annals II....
and in 18 at the Battle of the Angrivarian Walls, but Arminius was not captured by the Romans. In 19, Adgandestrius

Adgandestrius

Adgandestrius was a chief of the ancient Germanic peoples of the Chatti. He offered to kill Arminius if the Romans would send him poison for the purpose; but Tiberius declined the offer....
, a chief of the Chatti

Chatti

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
) "Romans take vengeance on their enemies, not by underhanded tricks, but by open force of arms." Arminius increasingly became embroiled in tribal disputes; his opponents accused him of trying to make himself king. In 21 Arminius "succumbed to treachery from his relations" (Tacitus) and a client king was appointed on the Germans by Rome.

Aftermath

After Arminius' death, the Romans left the Cherusci more or less to their own devices. In 47 A.D. the Cherusci asked Rome to send Italicus, the nephew of Arminius, to become king, as civil war had destroyed their nobility. He was initially well liked, but since he was raised in Rome as a Roman citizen he soon fell out of favor.

Under prudent Emperor Hadrian

Hadrian

Publius Aelius Hadrianus , as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after his apotheosis, known as Hadrian in English language, was Roman Emperor of Roman Empire from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoicism and Epicureanism philosopher....
, the Limes

Limes

A limes was a border defense or delimiting system of Ancient Rome. It marked the Borders of the Roman Empire.The Latin language noun limes had a number of different meanings: a path or balk delimiting Field , a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any distinction or difference....
fortification was built to close the gap between the two river borders and prevent raids subsequent to uprisings in unstable Outer Germany.

Bibliography

Tacitus, Cornelius and Michael Grant, The Annals of Imperial Rome. New York: Penguin Books, 1989.
Caesar, Julius et.al. The Battle for Gaul. Boston: D. R. Godine, 1980.